Happy New Year

Every new year celebration for the Young Single Adults in the Baltics is hosted by the one of the four countries in the mission. This year it was Lithuania's turn to plan and host.  For us, it means a seven hour drive to Vilnius.  I was a little anxious about it as the proof of insurance for the car was outdated.  What if we get stopped and what if we find ourselves being tossed into a dark cell with only bread and water in a foreign land where we can't speak the language and can only communicate using emojis? 😢 (actually, the bread here is fantastic.  Bread and water wouldn't be so bad)
We met up with the senior couple there and helped set up for the party.  We had about 20 show up for a meal, games and dancing.  The branch was holding their own party elsewhere in the building and eventually, their party merged into ours.  The more the merrier, right?  At midnight, the fireworks outside were phenomenal.  Everywhere you could look in the sky, the air was filled with multiple fireworks exploding. This went on for many more hours.  We can safely say that a good time was had by all.  

Baked potato bar

Enjoying their meal

More eating

YSA Pres. and friends

Do you love your neighbor?

Awkward Family Photos

More awkwardness

Not too sure about this one

The "gang" before the Latvians arrived

Monkeys

More games

A game of "Spot It" was spotted

Uno anyone?

A Studio C stanky face instruction

There are those who can . . .

And those who are wondering what happened

Of course we had professionals there

At last, the dance

. . . With some modifications

Happy New Year Everyone!

Birthday in Riga
Went for a quick trip to Riga, Latvia, for the annual inspection of our vehicle.  It just so happened to be Sister Allred's birthday.  So, for her birthday wish, we went exploring to Riga's Central Market.  There are five historical buildings that house the central market.  They were, at one time, German zeppelin hangars that were used in WWI.  It is Europe's largest market and bazaar.

Riga's Central Market

Inside is a marvelous collection of food and produce that will gladden the eye.  One hangar is totally devoted to seafood.  The others have their emphasis as well.  Here are a few pictures of what we found.  There are rows and rows of produce and other foods.  It is truly amazing.

Produce everywhere

Honey and beeswax

Don't even get me started on the bread . . .

After looking through each building, we went outside and there were more shops that operate outdoors (cheaper rent for sure).  We took a walk over to old town and found a KFC (late lunch).  The weather was quite a bit nippy and a certain someone was getting very cold, so we went back to the hotel and warmed up and then went window shopping at the mall next door.  It was there where we found a place to enjoy a birthday dinner.

The birthday girl enjoying her vegetable soup

Tallinn Branch Christmas Party
The annual branch Christmas party was held December 17th.  It is quite the festive affair with a full dinner, entertainment and a visit from Santa.  In Estonia, children are not just given gifts, they must first redeem them by reciting a poem or singing a song.  All the children went up and performed for Santa as well as the YM and YW organizations.  Sister Allred and I sang Silent Night as a duet with narration between the verses.

Before everyone arrived

The Dinner

More Dinner

Missionary Entertainment

Santa Arrives!

The children singing to Santa

  

Bathing with a Loofah
One of the unique things about our accommodations here in Estonia is that we have no clothes dryer in the apartment.  A washer, yes, but no clothes dryer.  My darling companion, who dutifully launders our clothing each week, is forced to air dry our wet clothes on a drying rack.  To aid in this process, she employs an electric fan that is directed to blow air across the wet clothing.  After a few hours

they are dry and ready to fold.  Doing laundry here can take up a lot of time. A side benefit is a lower electric bill each month.  Another, and almost overlooked benefit, is the salon treatment each time we shower.  If you have ever air-dried a bath towel, you will understand that when air-dried, the nap or pile of the towel does not feel like Charmin, but more like a loofa.  You know, the skeletal remains of the luffa fruit that feels like sandpaper on your skin and was meant to remove dry or dead skin from your body.   Yes, that is the loofa I'm talking about.  

Showering and using the towel, fresh from the laundry, can be a rather invigorating and liberating experience (if you think that liberating your skin from your body is a good thing).  I like to think that keeping my skin on is a good thing.  Dear reader, do not think I am complaining.  On the contrary, I've lost 10 pounds already.  Apparently, I have more skin than I actually need.  The downside, however, is that now I'm more sensitive to everything and everybody.  I used to be thick-skinned. 

An Awesome Tradition

In the winter months, the Tallinn Branch has what we affectionately call, Soup Sunday.  Every other week is Soup Sunday.  Immediately after the Sunday block, the chairs and tables are set out and we all enjoy soup together.  Usually there are plates of white and dark bread on the table to go along with the soup.  Different families or individuals provide the soup and ladle it up right in the kitchen.  We're not always too sure what is in the soup, but it tastes wonderful and we get to visit with the members on a less formal setting. 

 

Supping with branch members on Soup Sunday

Meremuuseum
(Estonian Maritime Museum)

When one lives by the sea, one can expect to see, a craft that sails in the sea.  Do you see?  Yes, we went to the Estonian Maritime Museum.  We've been wanting to go since this summer and just hadn't made it there yet - until now.  The setting is inside a giant seaplane hangar right next to the dock.  Inside is a collection of water going vessels (ice going as well) from the ancient to the modern, post-WWII era. As with any historical places in Estonia, there is always some correlation to occupational forces that Estonians had to endure. Many of the military ships used in Estonian waters were Russian or German built.  There was a temporary exhibit about Vikings and how they lived based on the ruins found at excavation sites in the Nordic regions.  On display was also a complete and intact mine-laying submarine (the EML Lembit) that served in Estonian waters.  The Lembit was built in 1936 by Great Britain.  When she was finally hauled out of the water in May of 2011, she was the oldest floating submarine in the world.  Here are a few pictures.

Meremuuseum of Estonia

Museum Floor

Old ships to visit

Sail boats for water and ice

Front hull of the EML Lembit

Lembit torpedo tubes

Crew slept above the topedos

Ancient looking controls

A valve and pipe for everything

Galley (kitchen)

Diesel engine that powered the generator

Generator that powered the electric motors

A view up top

A view of the conning tower

Viking stone art?

Artistic, those Vikings

Viking swords

Scenes of death and the afterlife

This explains the previous picture

Fat Margaret

When the reconstruction of the gate system of Tallinn was implemented in the early 16th century, this tower, which faced the sea, was built unusually large - partly as a way to impress visitors but mostly to scare away potential invaders.  It measures 65 ft. in height, 82 ft. in diameter with walls up to 16 ft. thick.  Among its primary use as a fortification, it has been used to store munitions and at one time served as a prison.  It is now used to house the rest of the displays of the Meremuuseum.  It has 5 levels of displays that include more of the civilian aspects of work in the sea.

Fat Maragret

I threw this in for Bishop Lynn Campbell

A gun that could shoot a dart to carry a rope to another ship

How rescues were made

Gotta love the knots

Deep sea diving suit

I threw this in for Gary Hinton

Sinking of the MS Estonia, 1994 where 852 lives were lost

Memorial for the MS Estonia

View from atop Fat Margaret